Throughout the aviation industry, the handling of aircraft engines presents a significant challenge. For example, during manufacturing of large commercial aircraft, aircraft engines weighing in excess of 20,000 pounds must be positioned precisely with respect to the aircraft airframe during the attachment process. Similarly, aircraft engines must be periodically removed for servicing and maintenance by airlines, aircraft service providers, and various military organizations. Thus, the need to remove, transport, and install aircraft engines presents a significant challenge in a wide variety of applications.
Typically, an engine is installed by lifting the engine upwardly into position and securing it to a portion of an airframe, such as a wing, a wing pylon, or a suitable portion of the aircraft fuselage. The installation (and removal) process is typically very complex, and usually involves precise positioning of the engine with respect to the airframe. Known techniques for handling aircraft engines include the use of overhead cranes, slings, or a variety of known loader apparatus. Conventional loader apparatus for handling aircraft engines include, for example, those devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,485,247 B1 issued to Groves et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,607 issued to Grout et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,455 issued to Mills et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 2,815,184 issued to Westphal et al.
Although desirable results have been achieved using such prior art apparatus and methods, there is room for improvement. For example, some types of conventional engine handling apparatus must be positioned below the aircraft engine in order to support the engine during installation and removal. This may undesirably necessitate lifting of the aircraft in order to provide enough space between the aircraft engine and the floor or other supporting surface for the engine handling apparatus to operate.
Other types of conventional engine handling apparatus may include support members that project upwardly above the aircraft engine in order to provide support for lifting the engine by means of chains, slings, or other suitable attachment devices. Such upwardly projecting support members may undesirably interfere with nearby portions of the airframe, such as the engine nacelle or thrust reverse assembly. Still other conventional types of engine handling apparatus require that the engine be uncoupled from its shipping buck, transported to a position proximate the airframe, and then be engaged onto support rails in order to be slidably moved into position with respect to the airframe. Due to the size, weight, and complexity of modem aircraft engines, such conventional engine handling apparatus obviously involve an undesirable amount of handling and transferring of the aircraft engine. Therefore, novel apparatus and methods for loading and transporting aircraft engines that at least partially mitigate the above-noted undesirable aspects of the prior art would be useful.